Traditional geography taught that there are four oceans in the world - Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic and Indian. Oceans of the world: map, names, description, area, depth, plants and animals

There are 4 oceans on our planet Earth

What are the names of the oceans on our planet?

1 - Pacific Ocean (the largest and deepest);

2 - Atlantic Ocean (in terms of volume and depth, it is the second after the Pacific Ocean);

3 - Indian Ocean (the third in volume and depth after the Pacific and Atlantic);

4 - Arctic Ocean (the fourth and smallest in volume and depth among all oceans)

What is the ocean? - This is a huge water body located among the continents, which is constantly in interaction with the earth's crust and the earth's atmosphere. The area of ​​the world's oceans, together with the seas included in it, is about 360 million square kilometers of the Earth's surface (71% of the total area of ​​​​our planet).

Over the years, the world ocean was divided into 4 parts, while others divided it into 5 parts. For a long time, 4 oceans were indeed distinguished: Indian, Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic (except for the Southern Ocean). The southern one is not part of the oceans because of its very conditional boundaries. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the International Hydrographic Organization adopted a division into 5 parts including the list of territorial waters called the "Southern Ocean", but at the moment this document still does not have official legal force, and it is believed that the southern ocean is only conditionally listed. by its name as the fifth on Earth. The Southern Ocean is also called the Southern Sea, which does not have its own clear independent boundaries, and it is believed that its waters are mixed, that is, the water currents of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans included in it.

Brief information about each ocean of the planet

• Pacific Ocean- is the largest in area (179.7 million km 2) and the deepest. It occupies about 50 percent of the entire surface of the Earth, the volume of water is 724 million km 3, the maximum depth is 11022 meters (the Mariana Trench, the deepest known on the planet).
• Atlantic Ocean- the second largest after the Pacific. The name was given in honor of the famous titan Atlanta. The area is 91.6 million km 2, the volume of water is 29.5 million km 3, the maximum depth is 8742 meters (an ocean trench, which is located on the border of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean).
• Indian Ocean covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface. Its area is just over 76 million km2, its volume is 282.5 million km3, and its greatest depth is 7209 meters (the Sunda Trench extends for several thousand kilometers along the southern part of the Sunda island arc).
• Arctic Ocean considered the smallest among all. So, its area is “only” 14.75 million km 2, its volume is 18 million km 3, and the greatest depth is 5527 meters (located in the Greenland Sea).

Pacific, Indian, Arctic and South. What is the largest ocean, do you think? Of course Quiet! The area of ​​this giant reservoir of water is 178.6 million km2. That makes up one third of the surface of our planet and almost half of the area of ​​the entire oceans. Imagine that on such a vast territory all the earth's continents and islands could freely accommodate. And the largest ocean on Earth is also the deepest. Its average depth is 3984 m . The Pacific Ocean "owns" the seas, islands, volcanoes, its waters are home to a huge number of living beings. No wonder this "quiet" is called the Great. You can talk about the Pacific Ocean endlessly. Unfortunately, our capabilities are limited to one article, but we will try to provide in it the maximum possible information about the great water Titan.

Where is the Pacific Ocean

Let's take a globe or a map and see where the largest ocean on the planet is. Look: in the west it stretches between Australia and Eurasia, in the east - between North and South America, in the south it approaches Antarctica itself.

Along the Bering Strait (from Cape Peek in Chukotka to Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska), the Pacific Ocean borders on its counterpart, the Arctic Ocean. Along the western coast of Sumatra, the northern edge of the Strait of Malacca, the southern shores of the islands of Timor, New Guinea and Java, through the beautiful Straits of Torres and Bass, along the coast of eastern Tasmania and further to Antarctica, the border with the Indian Ocean stretches, and the Atlantic Pacific borders, starting from the Antarctic peninsulas, further along the dangerous rapids between the Shetland Islands to Tierra del Fuego. The Great Ocean stretches from north to south for about 15.8 thousand km, and from east to west - for 19.5 thousand km.

A bit of history

The largest ocean in the world was named "Pacific" with the light hand of the famous Spanish and Portuguese navigator Magellan. It was he who, in 1520, was the first to venture on a journey through uncharted waters. For the entire time of the sea journey, lasting more than three months, Magellan's ship did not fall into a single storm, the heavens were surprisingly favorable to the brave sailors, which is quite strange, because it is in these places that the most powerful and ferocious typhoons and hurricanes are born, which are so generous World Ocean.

The Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa is considered to be the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean. This conquistador was lucky to be the first to see new, previously unseen ocean expanses. And it happened in 1510 in this way: de Balboa founded a settlement on the shores of the Gulf of Darien, suddenly rumors of a fabulously rich country reached him, which you can get to if you sail along the vast sea located in the south. The Balboa detachment immediately set off and after 4 weeks reached the Pacific coast. Of course, he had no idea about the fantastic size of the open area of ​​water. Balboa thought it was the sea.

Seas of the Pacific Ocean

31 seas flow into the largest ocean on Earth. Here are their names:

• Javanese.
• Japanese.
• South China.
• Tasmanovo.
• Philippine.
• New Guinea.
• Okhotsk.
• Sava Sea.
• Sea of ​​Halmahera.
• Koro.
• Mindanao.
• Yellow.
• Solomon Sea.
• Visayan.
• Samar.
• Coral.
• Sea Bali.
• Japanese;
• Sulu.
• Sea Banda.
• Silavesi.
• Fiji.
• Moluccan.
• Camotes.
• Seram Sea.
• Flores.
• East Chinese.
• Sibuyan.
• The Amundsen Sea.
• Bering Sea.

Pacific Islands

The largest ocean of our planet washes the shores of 5 continents: Australia, Eurasia, South and North America and Antarctica. And it also contains more than 25 thousand islands with a total area of ​​3.6 million km2. Most of them are of volcanic origin.

The Aleutian Islands are located in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese, Kuril, Philippine, Sakhalin, New Guinea, Tasmania, New Zealand, Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands are located in the western part, a huge number of small islands are scattered in the southern and central regions. Islands located in the western and central parts of the ocean form the Oceania region.

Climate zones

The largest oceans in the world can dramatically affect the weather on the entire planet. What can we say about such a giant as the Pacific Ocean! Typhoons of terrible destructive power, tropical storms, huge tsunamis are born there, threatening great disasters for many states. Scientists carefully monitor all the changes in his mood, and it is not so easy to do this, because thousands of kilometers of ocean water, stretching from north to south, are divided into different climatic zones - from cold Antarctic to hot equatorial.

The widest climatic zone of the Pacific Ocean is the equatorial one. It lies between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. Here the average temperature is never below +20 degrees. These places are characterized by frequent tropical cyclones. To the north and south of the equatorial zone are tropical and subtropical climatic zones, and then there are temperate zones bordering on the subpolar zones. Antarctica has a significant impact on the temperature characteristics of ocean water. In the equatorial and tropical zones, there is a lot of precipitation, approximately 3000 mm per year. This value is much greater than the amount of evaporating moisture from the surface of the ocean. 30 thousand m 2 of fresh water annually enters the Pacific thanks to the numerous rivers flowing into it. These two factors lead to the fact that the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean are less saline than in the Atlantic, Indian, etc.

Bottom relief

The bottom of the Pacific Ocean has an extremely diverse topography. In the center of the Pacific Basin there are deep-sea basins and trenches. And in the west is the deepest place in the entire World Ocean - the Mariana Trench. Vast areas of the bottom are covered with products of volcanic activity containing cobalt, nickel, and copper. Separate sections of these deposits have a thickness of about three km.

At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean there are volcanoes and several long chains of high seamounts. These are the Emperor Mountains, the Hawaiian Islands and Louisville. In the east of the ocean, where the East Pacific Rise is located, the relief is relatively flat.

Mariana Trench

The greatest depth of the ocean is 10,994 km. This place is located in the famous Mariana Trench - the most inaccessible and little-studied place on Earth. The Mariana Trench forms a giant crack in the earth's crust 2550 km long and 69 km wide, resembling a crescent in shape. The water pressure at the bottom of the depression is almost a thousand times greater than at the surface. That is why diving into this place, even with the help of the most modern deep-sea vehicles, is an incredible danger and difficulty.

The study of the underwater world of the deepest point of the World Ocean is carried out mainly with the help of special robots. Only a few people managed to visit the bottom of the Mariana Trench. For the first time in the bathyscaphe "Trieste" Don Walsham and Jacques Picard descended there. This event took place on January 23, 1960. The next journey involving a person into the depths of the ocean was made in 2012. This was done by the famous American film director James Cameron. Thanks to these brave people, the knowledge of mankind about the secrets of the Pacific Ocean has been greatly enriched.

The biggest volcano in the world

The largest ocean in the world never ceases to amaze its explorers. In 2013, an extinct volcano was discovered under its waters, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is 310 thousand km2. This huge mountain range is called Tamu, and its dimensions are comparable only to the Martian giant volcano Olympus.

Flora of the Pacific

The Pacific flora is striking in its richness and diversity. In the Pacific Ocean, as in all others, the laws of the distribution of wildlife according to climatic zones work. So, in temperate and cold climatic areas, the species diversity is poorer, but this is compensated by the greater abundance of one or another species of plants or animals.

Plant life is especially vibrant in tropical and subtropical ocean waters, between the coasts of Australia and Asia. There are gigantic territories occupied by coral reefs and overgrown with mangroves. The bottom flora of the Pacific Ocean has almost 4 thousand species of algae and more than 28 species of flowering plants. In the cold and temperate regions of the Pacific Basin, algae from the kelp group are common. In the southern hemisphere, giant brown algae can be found, the length of which reaches 200 m.

Fauna

The Pacific Ocean - Earth's largest ocean - is an endless blue water that is home to thousands of living beings. There is a place for both huge white sharks and very tiny mollusks. The Pacific fauna is richer than that in other oceans in terms of its species composition by almost 4 times!

Sperm whales are massively distributed - representatives of toothed whales, there are several species of rare striped whales. Fishing for both is strictly limited. In the north and south of the Pacific Ocean, colonies of sea lions and seals are found. Walruses and sea lions, now on the verge of extinction, live in northern waters. In total, the Pacific fauna has about 100 thousand species of various animals.

As for fish, there are a great many of them - about 2000 species. Nearly half of the world's fish catch comes from the Pacific Ocean. Among all living creatures that live in the Pacific Ocean, invertebrates that live at various depths predominate. These are crabs, shrimps, various mollusks (squids, oysters, octopuses), etc. Tropical latitudes are rich in various types of corals.

Tourist paradise

The largest ocean is loved by tourists from all over the world. Still would! Who hasn't dreamed of at least briefly finding themselves in paradise places located in Polynesia, Hawaii and the Philippine Islands? Fiji, Palau, the Cook Islands are visited annually by huge crowds of vacationing people. In these places, the ocean water is clean, especially transparent and has a wonderful blue or green color.

Moderate winds blow in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and the water temperature is comfortable all year round. Beautiful underwater world, sandy white beaches, friendliness of the local population, exotic flora and fauna - all signs of paradise on earth are there!

Ocean tracks of the Pacific

The largest ocean in the world plays a huge communication role. Many trade and passenger sea routes run through its waters, connecting the states of the Pacific basin, as well as the coasts of the Indian and Atlantic oceans. The largest ports are: Nakhodka and Vladivostok (Russia), Singapore, Shanghai (China), Sydney (Australia), Los Angeles and Long Beach (USA), Vancouver (Canada), Huasco (Chile).

There are many interesting facts, thanks to which you can immediately understand which ocean is the largest and most amazing. Many you have already learned from this article. And here are some more interesting facts about the Pacific Ocean:

• If it were possible to evenly distribute all the Pacific water over the surface of our planet, then it would completely cover the Earth with a water layer thickness of 2700 m.
• Nowhere in the world are there such high waves as in the Pacific Ocean, which is why extreme surfers especially respect it.
• The largest fish in the ocean is the giant whale shark. Its length can reach 18-20 meters. And this giant prefers to live in the Pacific waters.
• The average speed of destructive Pacific tsunamis is about 750 km per hour.
• The Pacific Ocean boasts the highest tides. For example, off the coast of Korea, the water at high tide can rise as much as 9 meters.
• The largest inhabitant of the ocean is the blue whale. Its weight sometimes exceeds 150 tons, and its length is more than 33 meters. In the Pacific Ocean, these rare animals can be found much more often than in other oceans.

Ecology

Now you know what is the largest ocean on our planet, as well as how important it is for the Earth and for us - the people living on it. Unfortunately, due to unreasonable human activity, the waters of many parts of the Pacific basin were polluted with industrial waste and oil, and many species of representatives of the animal world were exterminated. All this threatens the fragile ecosystem of our planet and affects climate change. We can only hope that humanity will come to its senses, begin to behave more intelligently and learn to live in harmony with nature.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest on Earth

Pacific Ocean- the largest ocean in terms of area and depth on Earth, occupies 49.5% of the surface of the World Ocean and holds 53% of its water volume. It is located between the continents of Eurasia and Australia in the west, North and South America in the east, Antarctica in the south.

The Pacific Ocean stretches approximately 15.8 thousand km from north to south and 19.5 thousand km from east to west. The area with the seas is 179.7 million km², the average depth is 3984 m, the volume of water is 723.7 million km³. The greatest depth of the Pacific Ocean (and the entire World Ocean) is 10,994 m (in the Mariana Trench).

On November 28, 1520, Ferdinand Magellan went out into the open ocean for the first time. He crossed the ocean from Tierra del Fuego to the Philippine Islands in 3 months and 20 days. All this time the weather was calm, and Magellan called the ocean - Pacific.

The second largest ocean on Earth after the Pacific Ocean, occupying 25% of the surface of the World Ocean, with a total area of ​​91.66 million km² and a volume of water - 329.66 million km³. The ocean is located between Greenland and Iceland in the north, Europe and Africa in the east, North and South America in the west and Antarctica in the south. The greatest depth - 8742 m (deep trench - Puerto Rico)

The name of the ocean is first encountered in the 5th century BC. e. in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote that "the sea with the pillars of Hercules is called Atlantis." The name comes from the ancient Greek myth of Atlanta, a titan holding the vault of heaven on his shoulders at the extreme western point of the Mediterranean. The Roman scientist Pliny the Elder in the 1st century used the modern name Oceanus Atlanticus - "Atlantic Ocean".

The third largest ocean on Earth, covering about 20% of its water surface. Its area is 76.17 million km², volume - 282.65 million km³. The deepest point of the ocean is in the Sunda Trench (7729 m).

In the north, the Indian Ocean washes Asia, in the west - Africa, in the east - Australia; in the south it borders on Antarctica. The border with the Atlantic Ocean runs along the 20 ° meridian of east longitude; from the Pacific - along the 146 ° 55 'meridian of eastern longitude. The northernmost point of the Indian Ocean is located at approximately 30° north latitude in the Persian Gulf. The width of the Indian Ocean is approximately 10,000 km between the southern points of Australia and Africa.

The ancient Greeks called the western part of the ocean known to them with adjacent seas and bays the Erythrean Sea (Red). Gradually, this name began to be attributed only to the nearest sea, and the ocean gets its name from India, the country most famous at that time for its wealth on the shores of the ocean. So Alexander the Great in the IV century BC. e. calls it Indicon Pelagos - "Indian Sea". Since the 16th century, the name Oceanus Indicus, introduced by the Roman scientist Pliny the Elder back in the 1st century, was established - the Indian Ocean.

The smallest ocean on Earth, located entirely in the northern hemisphere, between Eurasia and North America.

The area of ​​the ocean is 14.75 million km² (5.5% of the area of ​​the World Ocean), the volume of water is 18.07 million km³. The average depth is 1225 m, the greatest depth is 5527 m in the Greenland Sea. Most of the relief of the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is occupied by the shelf (more than 45% of the ocean floor) and the underwater margins of the continents (up to 70% of the bottom area). The ocean is usually divided into three vast areas: the Arctic Basin, the North European Basin and the Canadian Basin. Due to the polar geographical position, the ice cover in the central part of the ocean persists throughout the year, although it is in a mobile state.

The ocean was singled out as an independent geographer Varenius in 1650 under the name of the Hyperborean Ocean - "The ocean in the farthest north." Foreign sources of that time also used the names: Oceanus Septentrionalis - "Northern Ocean" (lat. Septentrio - north), Oceanus Scythicus - "Scythian Ocean" (lat. Scythae - Scythians), Oceanes Tartaricus - "Tartar Ocean", Μare Glaciale - "Arctic Sea" (lat. Glacies - ice). On Russian maps of the 17th - 18th centuries, the names are used: Sea Ocean, Sea Ocean Arctic, Arctic Sea, Arctic Ocean, North or Arctic Sea, Arctic Ocean, North Polar Sea, and the Russian navigator Admiral F. P. Litke in the 20s of the XIX century called it the Arctic Ocean. In other countries, the English name is widely used. Arctic Ocean - "Arctic Ocean", which in 1845 gave the ocean to the London Geographical Society.

By a decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of June 27, 1935, the name Arctic Ocean was adopted, as corresponding to the form already used in Russia since the beginning of the 19th century, and close to earlier Russian names.

The conditional name of the waters of the three oceans (Pacific, Atlantic and Indian) surrounding Antarctica and sometimes unofficially distinguished as the “fifth ocean”, which, however, does not have a northern border clearly defined by islands and continents. The conditional area is 20.327 million km² (assuming the northern boundary of the ocean is 60 degrees south latitude). The greatest depth (South Sandwich Trench) - 8428 m.

However, very recently...

... in 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization united the southern parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, creating the fifth addition to the list - the Southern Ocean. And this is not a voluntary decision: this region has a special structure of currents, its own weather formation rules, etc. The arguments in favor of such a decision are as follows: in the southern part of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, the boundaries between them are very arbitrary, to Antarctica, have their own specifics, and are also united by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

The largest of the oceans is the Pacific. Its area is 178.7 million km2. .

The Atlantic Ocean extends for 91.6 million km 2.

The area of ​​the Indian Ocean is 76.2 million km2.

The area of ​​the Antarctic (Southern) Ocean is 20.327 million km 2.

The Arctic Ocean covers an area of ​​approximately 14.75 million km2.

Pacific Ocean, the largest on Earth. It was named so by the famous navigator Magellan. This traveler was the first European to successfully swim across the ocean. But Magellan was just very lucky. There are often terrible storms here.

The Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the Atlantic. It occupies 165 million square meters. km, which is almost half the area of ​​the entire oceans. It contains more than half of all the water on our planet. At one point, this ocean stretches 17,000 kilometers across, stretching nearly half the globe. Despite its name, this vast ocean is not only blue, beautiful and serene. Strong storms or underwater earthquakes infuriate him. In fact, there are large zones of seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean.

Photographs of the Earth from space show the true size of the Pacific Ocean. This largest ocean in the world covers one third of the planet's surface. Its waters stretch from East Asia and Africa to America. In the shallowest places, the depth of the Pacific Ocean averages 120 meters. These waters are washed by the so-called continental shelves, which are submerged parts of continental platforms that start from the coastline and go gradually under water. In general, the depth of the Pacific Ocean averages 4,000 meters. The depressions in the west connect to the deepest and darkest place in the world - the Mariana Trench - 11,022 m. It was previously believed that there was no life at such a depth. But even there, scientists have found living organisms!

On the Pacific Plate, a huge stretch of the earth's crust, there are ridges of high seamounts. There are many islands of volcanic origin in the Pacific Ocean, such as Hawaii, the largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. Hawaii has the highest mountain in the world, Mauna Kea. It is an extinct volcano with a height of 10,000 meters from the base at the bottom of the sea. In contrast to the volcanic islands, there are low-lying islands formed by coral deposits that have accumulated over thousands of years on the tops of underwater volcanoes. This vast ocean is home to a wide variety of underwater life, ranging from the world's largest fish (the whale shark) to flying fish, squid and sea lions. The warm shallow waters of the coral reefs are home to thousands of species of brightly colored fish and algae. All sorts of fish, marine mammals, mollusks, crustaceans and other creatures swim in the cool deep waters.

The Pacific - people and history

Sea voyages across the Pacific Ocean were undertaken in ancient times. About 40,000 years ago, the Aborigines crossed by canoe from New Guinea to Australia. Centuries later, between the 16th century BC. e. and X century AD. e. Polynesian tribes settled the Pacific islands, daring to overcome vast water distances. This is considered one of the greatest achievements in the history of navigation. Using special canoes with a double bottom and sails woven from leaves, Polynesian sailors eventually covered almost 20 million square meters. km of ocean space. In the western Pacific, around the 12th century, the Chinese made great advances in the art of maritime navigation. They were the first to use large ships with multiple masts on the bottom of the ship, steering, and compasses.

Europeans began exploring the Pacific Ocean in the 17th century, when the Dutch captain Abel Janszoon Tasman sailed around Australia and New Zealand on his ship. Captain James Cook is considered one of the most famous explorers of the Pacific Ocean. Between 1768 and 1779 he mapped New Zealand, the east coast of Australia, and many of the Pacific Islands. In 1947, the Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl sailed on his Kon-Tiki raft from the coast of Peru to the Tuamotu archipelago, which is part of French Polynesia. His expedition served as proof that the ancient native inhabitants of South America could cross vast sea distances on rafts.

In the twentieth century, the exploration of the Pacific Ocean continued. The depth of the Mariana Trench was established, and unknown species of marine animals and plants were discovered. The development of the tourism industry, pollution and the establishment of beaches threaten the natural balance of the Pacific Ocean. Governments of individual countries and groups of environmentalists are trying to minimize the damage caused by our civilization to the aquatic environment.

Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean is the third largest on Earth and covers 73 million square meters. km. This is the warmest ocean, the waters of which are rich in various flora and fauna. The deepest place in the Indian Ocean is a depression located south of the island of Java. Its depth is 7450 m. It is interesting that the currents in the Indian Ocean change their direction to the opposite twice a year. In winter, when monsoons predominate, the current goes to the shores of Africa, and in summer - to the shores of India.

The Indian Ocean stretches from the coast of East Africa to Indonesia and Australia, and from the coast of India to Antarctica. This ocean includes the Arabian and Red Seas, as well as the Bengal and Persian Gulfs. The Suez Canal connects the northern part of the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.

At the bottom of the Indian Ocean are huge sections of the earth's crust - the African Plate, the Antarctic Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Shifts in the earth's crust cause underwater earthquakes that cause giant waves called tsunamis. As a result of earthquakes, new mountain ranges appear on the ocean floor. In some places, seamounts protrude above the surface of the water, forming most of the scattered islands in the Indian Ocean. There are deep depressions between the mountain ranges. For example, the depth of the Sunda Trench is approximately 7450 meters. The waters of the Indian Ocean serve as a habitat for various representatives of the animal world, including corals, sharks, whales, turtles and jellyfish. Powerful currents are huge streams of water moving through the warm blue expanses of the Indian Ocean. The West Australian Current carries cold Antarctic waters north to the tropics.

The equatorial current, located below the equator, circulates warm water counterclockwise. The northern currents depend on monsoon winds that cause heavy rainfall, which change their direction depending on the season.

Indian Ocean - people and history

Seafarers and traders plowed the waters of the Indian Ocean many centuries ago. The ships of the ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Persians and Indians passed along the main trade routes. In the early Middle Ages, settlers from India and Sri Lanka crossed into Southeast Asia. Since ancient times, wooden ships called dhou sailed in the Arabian Sea, carrying exotic spices, African ivory and fabrics.

In the 15th century, the great Chinese navigator Zhen Ho led a large expedition across the Indian Ocean to the shores of India, Sri Lanka, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. In 1497, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama became the first European to sail a ship around the southern tip of Africa and reach the shores of India. It was followed by English, French and Dutch traders, and the era of colonial conquest began. For centuries, new settlers, traders and pirates landed on the islands lying in the Indian Ocean. Many species of island animals that did not live anywhere else in the world became extinct. For example, the dodo, a flightless dove the size of a goose that lived in Mauritius, was exterminated by the end of the 17th century. The giant tortoises on Rodrigues Island disappeared by the 19th century. Exploration of the Indian Ocean continued into the 19th and 20th centuries. Scientists have done a great job of mapping the topography of the seabed. Currently, Earth satellites launched into orbit take pictures of the ocean, measure its depth and transmit information messages.

Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean is the second largest and covers an area equal to 82 million square meters. km. It is almost half the size of the Pacific Ocean, but its size is constantly increasing. From the island of Iceland to the south in the middle of the ocean stretches a powerful underwater ridge. Its peaks are the Azores and Ascension Island. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge - a large mountain range at the bottom of the ocean - is getting wider by about 2.5 cm annually. The deepest place in the Atlantic Ocean is a depression located north of the island of Puerto Rico. Its depth is 9218 meters. If 150 million years ago there was no Atlantic Ocean, then over the next 150 million years, scientists suggest, it will occupy more than half of the globe. The Atlantic Ocean greatly influences the climate and weather in Europe.

The Atlantic Ocean began to form 150 million years ago, when shifts in the earth's crust separated North and South America from Europe and Africa. This youngest of the oceans is named after the god Atlas, who was worshiped by the ancient Greeks.

Ancient peoples, such as the Phoenicians, began exploring the Atlantic Ocean around the 8th century BC. e. However, it was not until the ninth century A.D. e. The Vikings managed to get from the coast of Europe to Greenland and North America. Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator who was in the service of the Spanish monarchs, began the "golden age" of the exploration of the Atlantic. In 1492, his small squadron of three ships, after a long storm, entered the Caribbean Bay. Columbus believed that he was sailing to the East Indies, but in fact he discovered the so-called New World - America. He was soon followed by other navigators from Portugal, Spain, France and England. The study of the Atlantic Ocean continues to this day. Currently, scientists use echolocation (sound waves) to map the topography of the seabed. Many countries fish in the Atlantic Ocean. Humans have been fishing in these waters for thousands of years, but modern trawler fishing has led to a significant reduction in fish stocks. The seas fringing the oceans are polluted with waste. The Atlantic Ocean continues to play a huge role in international trade. Many important trade sea routes pass through it.

Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean, which is located between Canada and Siberia, is the smallest and smallest compared to others. But at the same time, it is the most mysterious, as it is almost completely hidden under a huge layer of ice. The Arctic Ocean divides the Nansen Submarine Threshold into two basins. The Arctic Basin is larger in area and contains the greatest depth of the ocean. It is equal to 5000 m and is located north of Franz Josef Land. In addition, here, off the Russian coast, there is a vast continental shelf. For this reason, our Arctic seas, namely: the Kara, Barents, Laptev, Chukchi, East Siberian, are shallow.